Coalition sets goals to boost Latino graduation rate

San Antonio – After a year of planning, a group of educators, city officials and representatives of college advocacy organizations met Monday to update the community on goals to increase the Latino graduation rate.

A coalition of four school districts and about 60 local partners announced a series of strategic goals to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the effort, called the Diplomás Project.

Greg Darnieder, senior adviser to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, told reporters before the meeting San Antonio is closely being watched as a model for other cities. He said cross-sector partnerships between higher education organizations, city officials, local advocacy groups and K-12 school leaders have “built trust across several systems.”

“San Antonio is a community that is not afraid to put their data out there and challenge the broader community by saying, 'These are our children,'” Darnieder said.

He told the group Monday federal officials are “more than interested in the work you're doing here” and cheered their efforts in working together to build trust, bridge the gap between the K-12 and higher education sectors and use data to measure progress.

He said more than $300 million in funds available from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, had been left on the table this year in Texas alone and that “building the infrastructure at the local level” couldn't be more important.San Antonio Education Partnership executive director and Diplomás Latino student site director Eyra Perez said the group already is getting results. Perez agreed, saying outside the meeting, “We've seen an increase in college enrollment and, citywide, the number of students applying for FAFSA has increased by 5 percent.”

Monday's event kicked off a two-day conference at the city's Café College center, where a year ago the partners, including the Northside, San Antonio, Harlandale and Southwest independent school districts, met to outline a citywide initiative.

The work is being funded by the Lumina Foundation's Latino Student Success Effort, a project that last year was at work in at least 11 states.

Seven councils have been convened to focus on three main goals:

Achieve a 9 percent increase in Latino college attainment by 2015, a Diplomás goal.

Ensure that 50 percent of San Antonio adults obtain a 2-year or 4-year degree by 2020, an SA2020 goal.

Increase the percentage of Americans with high-quality degrees or other credentials to 60 percent by 2025, a Lumina Foundation goal.

Noé Ortiz, director of financial aid at Alamo Colleges, said the seven councils or networks will “cast a wide net across the city to meet the needs of many students and their parents.”

“That's what it's all about — is knowing that these groups have access to students and parents,” Ortiz said.